"... researchers indicated that time from schizophrenia diagnoses to death was significantly short for those with HIV than those without." From MD Mag, Kevin Kunzmann reports.

There is a six-fold prevalence of schizophrenia in people with HIV than that of the population without the virus, according to the results of a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based study. The study, presented at the 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston, MA, this week, found a distinct association between the mental disorder and HIV — a relationship sparsely analyzed before. Researchers from the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver,

A study presented at the recent 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018) aims to quantify how many people with HIV there might be in the community who both have a detectable HIV viral load and also have significant resistance to tenofovir and emtricitabine, the two drugs currently used in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
The researchers, from the University of Washington in Seattle, found that in King County, which contains Seattle, no more than 0.3% of the l

From AIDSmap, Michael Carter and Keith Alcorn report on the Rakai Community Cohort Study.

The rate of new HIV infections has halved since 2011 in a Ugandan community following large increases in male circumcision, antiretroviral treatment and viral suppression, Frank Kagaayi of the Rakai Health Sciences Program told the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston on Tuesday.
Dr Kagaayi was presenting results from the Rakai Community Cohort Study, focusing on repeat surveys of one fishing village with a very high prevalence and incidence of HIV infection. The

Five of eleven treated animals still remained virally suppressed at six months. From AIDSmap, Liz Highleyman reports.

Dan Barouch presenting at CROI 2018. Photo by Liz Highleyman
Treatment with a broadly neutralising antibody plus an immune-stimulating drug led to long-term viral remission after interrupting antiretroviral therapy in a monkey study, according to data presented at the 25th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018) this week in Boston.
Monkeys that received both the antibody, known as PGT121, and the TLR7 agonist GS-9620 maintained an undetectable viral load withou

Good news for those infected or co-infected with Hepatitis C in Ontario

- Gilead applauds Ontario’s Ministry of Health for expanding access to curative hepatitis C therapies to all diagnosed patients, regardless of severity of illness
- Ontario’s expanded access includes EPCLUSA®, a 12 week treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C across all six genotypes
- Gilead’s new product, VOSEVI™ is now available under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program
- The removal of the fibrosis level criterion for access furthers Canada’s commitment to the World Heal

From AIDSmap, Keith Alcorn reports on two studies assessing the influence of provider type on outcomes of chronic co-morbidities in HIV.

People with HIV who have other medical conditions such as high blood pressure or high lipids appear to do better if they have a primary care physician as well as an HIV physician, according to a study of people receiving care through UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education, researchers report in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
A second study, looking at chronic medical conditions, or co-morbidities, in a large sample of people with HIV in the United States found that high b

From AIDSmap, Michael Carter reports on a study designed to examine the association between chronic depression and clinical outcomes.

Increased time spent living with depression is associated with poorer engagement with the HIV care continuum, investigators from the United States report in JAMA Psychiatry. Chronic depression was associated with missing appointments, a detectable viral load and an increased mortality risk.
“We found that a greater proportion of time spent with depression increased the risk of missed primary care appointments and lack of viral suppression in a dose-response manner,” comment the autho

From the Globe and Mail, Holly McKenzie-Sutter

ISTOCKPHOTO
Oren Adamson received a prescription for pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment in July of last year. Also known as PrEP, the once daily pill is believed to reduce the risk of contracting HIV by more than 90 per cent. Health Canada approved PrEP in the form of the drug Truvada last year, but it has remained too expensive for many patients at $1,000 month. It's considerably cheaper – $70 – in the United States, prompting Mr. Adamson to drive from his home in Vancouver across the bo

From The Conversation, Henry Zakumumpa reports on how Uganda is closing its funding gap for the scale-up of antiretroviral treatment and service delivery

Over the last 15 years, there’s been a rapid increase in the number of patients receiving HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. This has largely depended on foreign aid, particularly from global aid organisations such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and The Global Fund.
Millions of lives have been saved and the quality of life of those living with HIV has been improved dramatically.
In recent years there have been persistent reports of a decline in the amou

From AIDSmap, Gus Cairns reports on the PrEP In Europe Summit 2018

The biggest barrier to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) becoming more available and more widely used is not cost so much as widespread acceptance of the status quo in HIV prevention, the first-ever European PrEP Summit, held in Amsterdam ten days ago, heard.
Ignorance – among politicians, among healthcare workers, and among potential users of PrEP – was the main reason Europe lags far behind the USA in PrEP provision, despite there being a possibly more favourable climate in terms of p

A Treatment Action Campaign protest
At the just-concluded 2018 Partners Forum that held from February 13 -15, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza, Johannesburg, South Africa, participants were taken through an Advocacy 001 class. The lecture sounded very much like what advocacy should be – planned, with timelines and targets, adequately funded with measureable targets. Sadly, the history of HIV and AIDS activism in Africa was not such structured campaigns.
HIV and AIDS activism evolved out of a d

"The sole issue in this case is whether psychological harm said to have been caused by non-disclosure of HIV status vitiates consent to sexual activity. The short answer is no, it does not." The Globe and Mail reports.

Wesley Vandinter/Getty Images
To read the complete article, visit the Globe and Mail, here.
HALIFAX (CP) -- Nova Scotia's highest court has overturned the sexual-assault convictions of an HIV-positive former boxer who slept with two women, saying their consent wasn't diminished by the man not disclosing his condition.
Claude Thompson was found guilty of sexual-assault causing bodily harm of two women in Antigonish, N.S., and sentenced to 30 months in jail. In a written ruling released Th

Championing Healthy Public Policy for Older Adults Living with HIV in Canada.

Please consider joining Realize for one of three upcoming online consultations on Championing Healthy Public Policy for Older Adults Living with HIV in Canada.
These online consultations are open to people living with HIV, service providers, health professionals, researchers, policy makers and others with a shared interest in these issues.
Please consider joining Realize for one of three upcoming online consultations on Championing Healthy Public Policy for Older Adults Living with